Adrian Teacher is a talented and award-winning musician who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. Best known for his work in Apollo Ghosts and COOL TV, Teacher is also an accomplished solo musician who has just released another excellent, contemplative yet upbeat album with his backing band, the Subs. The record is called Terminal City, it’s out now via You’ve Changed Records, and Adrian Teacher and the Subs are touring across Canada in July with Weird Lines and Jon McKiel and then again in August with Julie Doiron and Construction and Destruction. Here, Adrian and I discuss what’s happening in his hot apartment, the most cataclysmic climate change situation of all time and Birkenstocks, writing songs about Vancouver, a city in transition, no hope, the last railroad spike and global connection, the controversy over Vancouver’s real estate situation, Liberal Premier Christy Clark’s call to end real estate’s self-regulation, growing up on Vancouver Island and relating to cities, housing inequity, addressing actual problems like social housing, centrist policies, million dollar shacks, despondence, the inspiring lives of children when you’re a teacher, parents just don’t understand, Nanaimo and Diana Krall, my sweet tooth, a good upbringing, getting into guitar at 10 years old, buying a four-track that once belonged to Alden Penner in 1996, The Wedge and Beck, Sloan at the Saratoga Speedway, Eric’s Trip, finding his voice in Apollo Ghosts and where that band came from, me and Apollo Ghosts at Sappyfest and a cape, why Apollo Ghosts stopped, his next band COOL TV, the Subs and Amanda P. and ‘Beautiful British’ Robbie, Jonathan Richman, Squeeze, Talking Heads, keeping lyrics fun and upbeat, Dan Bejar, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Stephen Malkmus, Ramones, musical ADHD, the outdoors, building a cabin, former Nanaimo mayor Frank Ney, the keyboardist from Trooper, Armageddon, the weirdness of Vancouver Island, special Canadian places, the last day of school teacher jam, touring Canada twice, Jon McKiel, Weird Lines, Julie Doiron, a new EP, making some music that’s more adult, John Collins, the label City Beautiful, Pavement, the song “Called Up,” Television, and that was it.

Jay Arner is a gifted rock and pop songwriter and musician based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Over the past five years or so, Arner has garnered critical acclaim for his solo records, which tend to feature synthesized instruments and cloudy vocals but are ultimately infectious and thoroughly satisfying. His new album is an excellent, endlessly enjoyable one called Jay II, it’s out June 17 via Mint Records, and he’s playing a couple of shows in Calgary at Sled Island on June 24 and June 25 with more tour dates to follow to tell people about it. Here, Jay and I discuss Music Waste in Vancouver, Adrian Teacher and the Subs, Apollo Ghosts II, roman numerals, enrichment and remedial classes, a 3-D Parthenon, boredumb, belonging and being in your head all the time, Vancouver’s lack of support for underground music venues and its punk scene, venue closures, the Railway Club, Vancouver real estate and rich people, purposeful psychology, happenstance carpentry, mangling mansions, Vancouver’s punk and pop legacy, Burnaby born, adolescent anxiety, no direction, super cool parents into home recording and guitars, Pavement, the drumming in Led Zeppelin but also the singing in Led Zeppelin, tennis racquets, I invent the term post-prog, punk myths, late 70s/early 80s music and songwriting and melodies, synthesizers and drums, the golden age of studio recording and the advent of multi-tracking, it’s a brand new era it feels great, Neu! and Harry Nilsson, the song “Earth to Jay,” Jessica Delisle joins us, her popular podcast Retail Nightmares, their band Energy Slime and Mint Records, their working dynamic, practice makes better, how they met, being a creative couple, what Jessica thinks Jay is like, touring the U.S. during a Presidential election year, Jay’s sense of humour and sense of self, the joy of being self-absorbed, lyrical misinterpretations, not going to clubs on the Granville strip, the story about my son mishearing a curse on “Back to School,” clean versions, all all the rules, cussing on your hits, one percent punk, including legit digits in a song, screening his calls, giving everyone in the world your phone number versus your email, Shotgun Jimmie’s ‘kids only text’ story, more than the bio, playing Sled Island and touring with Supermoon, the video for “Crystal Ball,” my 18 month-old daughter is not a huge Jay II fan, Beastie Boys, the song “Earth to Jay,” and then it was time to drive away in our flat cars.